News Director 
Column By: LUCAS OIL LATE MODEL DIRT SERIES – BATAVIA, OH – A year after a setback at Eldora’s Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series finale derailed Ricky Thornton Jr.’s championship hopes, the 34-year-old found redemption in 2024.
Thornton becomes the ninth different driver in the series’ 20-year history to earn the illustrious Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series title. Thornton ended his 2024 campaign with 14 victories, 34 top-five finishes, and 41 top-ten performances.
This season, the Big River Steel Chase for the Championship presented by ARP became a five-race showdown. Thornton entered Eldora Speedway with a 50-point lead in the standings, requiring him to finish sixth or better to secure the championship if either Jonathan Davenport or Devin Moran – tied for second in the chase – claimed the season-ending Dirt Track World Championship.
In the end, Thornton’s third-place performance in the 100-lapper earned him his first Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series National Championship by a 60-point margin. Davenport retired from the race with terminal engine trouble on lap 64, while Moran finished fourth after his march through the field from an 18th starting position.
“I feel like everyone kind of doubted us,” Thornton said. “Coming into this whole playoff deal, I think they wrote us off as fourth, so overall it’s kind of awesome just to come back and have a last couple weeks like we did. Obviously we wanted Pittsburgh (third- and sixth-place finishes to start the Chase on Oct. 4-5) to be a little bit better, but overall it worked out and we ended up champions.
“I’d say obviously the biggest thing is (it took) a lot of work and determination, not only by me but my whole crew. A lot of stuff was thrown at us this year and just to be able to come out on top is pretty awesome.”
While celebrating his $200,000 title, Thornton was thankful to his car owner, crew, and all his supporters for believing in him.
“I honestly had no idea what I was gonna do,” Thornton said, thinking back to his release from SSI Motorsports. “Bobby [Koehler] was actually one of the first people I talked to. I talked to [Koehler] and we didn’t know exactly what we were gonna do. He’s like, ‘I got my boy’s car (22-year-old Jordan Koehler), we got his rig. We can at least get going.’ And the big thing that stood out to me was, instead of, ‘Hey, we can get through these next couple weeks,’ it was, ‘What do we gotta do to finish the year?’ That was the biggest thing for me.
“And obviously Longhorn and Bilstein (Shocks), they were all super on-board right away too … like, ‘What do we have to do to get through this year? We wanna make this happen. Obviously our goal was to try and still win the championship at that point, and really, you just never know trying to put together a brand-new team in a short amount of time,” he continued. “For it to end like this, it’s kind of a Cinderella story for us.”
“There’s been so much in the shop, at home, down the road. Chris (Madden) has been awesome to work with. Obviously (Madden’s crewman) Ricky Arnold coming over helped a ton, and having D.J. Tires (D.J. Williams, Thornton’s tire guy at SSI Motorsports) back with us … it’s been pretty awesome.”
Thornton’s Koehler Motorsports, Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and sponsored by Coltman Farms Racing, Hoker Trucking, D&E Outside Services, Capital Waste, Traffic Control Safety Services, Ultimate Towing and Recovery, Rogers Realty and Auction Company, Inc., Five Star Metal Buildings, and Sunoco Race Fuels.
Moran was the runner-up in the final Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series standings for the second consecutive year. Davenport finished third, with Tim McCreadie and Hudson O’Neal rounding out the top five.
